SU-152 Taran
History The SU-152 "Taran" (СУ-152 "Таран"), was a Soviet experimental tank. In the early 1960's, the Soviet military revealed that the armor-piercing ammunition, used by the T-54 and T-55 medium tanks, and the T-10 and T-10M heavy tanks, were unable to penetrate the hull front nor the turret front of the second generation American M60 Patton or British FV4201 Chieftain main battle tanks. To fight successfully with these tanks, the Soviets began a parallel work in different directions. This led to the development of new APDS and shaped charge ammunition for the contemporary tank guns, new rifled and smoothbore tank guns with a caliber of 115-130 mm, anti-tank missiles, etc. One of these projects became the SU-152 "Taran". The factory designation was Object 120 (Объект 120). In terms of firepower and mobility, it was surpassing all foreign tank destroyers. Something similar to the Taran was the British FV4005 Stage 2, armed with a large 183 mm gun, developed in July 1955. The main reason SU-152 Taran wasn't adopted was the development of effective 125 mm smoothbore tank gun and anti-tank missiles that were able to actually penetrate second generation main battle tanks. The SU-152 Taran was armed with the 152.4 mm M-69 "Taran" rifled gun, with a barrel length of 9045 mm, fitted with a powerful muzzle brake. With an overall length of about 10 meters, this is one of the longest guns of any type ever built installed on a fully enclosed armoured fighting vehicle. The gun had a maximum direct fire range of 2050 meters. The Taran carried 22 rounds of APDS and high-explosive ammunition. The gun had a semi-automatic breech block, with a rate of fire of 3-5 rounds/min. The high-explosive ammunition had a 43.5 kg shell and a maximum charge of 10.7 kg. Firing the 12.5 kg APDS shell with a maximum charge (10.7 kg), which gave it a muzzle velocity of 1720 m/s, the M-69 "Taran" had an armor penetration of 290 mm of RHA at 90° at a range of 2000 meters.The FV 4005 Stage 2 had a similar armor penetration, about 300 mm of RHA at 90° at a range of about 2000 meters, using a HESH ammunition round. In-game The SU-152 Taran has a great health pool in-game, but the armor is low. Using the speed to circle around your opponent, however, when circle the enemy, the reload time can be a problem. As this tank is good in use, the SU-152 Taran is rarely seen in batttles. The average damage, when it is not upgraded yet, is around 100. This means, it will kill a T-54 within 2 shots.Try to cover as much as possible, because the low armor won't repel shots fast. This tank is effective in close combat, however, this tank is effective in large maps as well. Pros and Cons Pros: * Great health pool * High alpha damage, great penetration values * Excellent speed, one of the fastest in the game * Mobility is respectable, given that the tank has a high length to width ratio and has a decent reverse speed (unlike all Soviet/Russian mediums with laughable reverse speeds) Cons: * Abysmal armor, gets damaged easily and substantially by high explosive * Reload is slow (but still a bit faster than the M551 Sheridan's) * Cannot use HEAT ammo * Turret rotation is somewhat slower than the average speed * Though the speed is good, the agility is lacking (since the tank has such a high length to width ratio) * Horrible gun depression Navigation Category:Warsaw Pact Tanks Category:Prototype Category:Tank Destroyers